A cloudy day brings minimal traffic to Shea Boulevard, one of the Fountain Hills’ biggest roads for commerce and visitors.

Bealls store worker Hana Bolter opens the sliding glass doors to begin the business’ day. Outside the store, Bolter had concerns for a town project that was in discussion to expand Shea Boulevard and how it could affect short-term commerce.

“There’s only three ways to come into Fountain Hills, and it’s mainly Shea,” Bolter said. “And that’s the busiest road.”

Bolter said she felt there would be complaints from town residents about the construction. She felt work would become “boring” if the construction were to interfere with local commerce.

A recent draft report commissioned by a consultant agency priced a road expansion of Shea Boulevard for the town at an estimated $5-6 million, sparking mixed feelings about the cost of the project.

Consultants from TischlerBise, hired by the town, and town workers are in talks about the future expansion of Shea Boulevard, from Palisades Boulevard to Fountain Hills Boulevard. The report is scheduled to go up for potential adoption in front of the town council, potentially Oct. 21, though the agenda was not finalized as of this writing.

According to the consultant agency’s report titled “DRAFT Land Use Assumptions and Infrastructure, Improvement Plan, and Development Fee Report,” these projects become funded through impact fees paid by future developers.

The town is able to use a process called “Land Use Assumptions” to determine fees to be paid by new development, taxes and state programs. This process is determined by projecting the future needs of the town.

The draft report was discussed in a town council meeting hearing on Sept. 16, a copy of which was provided for this reporting by Town of Fountain Hills Communications Director Mike Pelton and Chief Financial Officer Paul Soldinger. Parts of the plan discussed included infrastructure costs per lane for streets such as Shea Boulevard and raised development fees for builders.

Discussions of these inflated prices made Councilman Rick Watts “concerned” during the town council meeting.

“I think we ought to explore some of the options,” Watts said. “Because I think this would be a big curtailment up to anybody coming into the town to build.”

Watts said he was “baffled” by the development fee projections in the report. He asked how the price increase “doesn’t scare (developers) off?”

In an interview, Soldinger discussed how, when the need for more infrastructure comes to a town, the demand for an impact fee for developers increases.

“The whole idea is to be able to take on additional traffic and congestion as the new development comes in …” Soldinger said. “So that’s a really big project for (town workers).”

Soldinger said the discussed expansion of Shea would be in anticipation of the new Sprouts shopping center, pending final approvals, according to a news flash post on the town’s website.

In reference to why these impact and development fees were going up, he said they were because of the second phase of the project in 5 to 10 years.

This phase, which would cost up to $30 million, according to Soldinger, would expand Shea Boulevard from Fountain Hills Boulevard to Technology Drive.

Bealls still has time before this project is possibly approved for development. Bolter said the expansion could be “beneficial.” She said more people coming into the town could increase the “small portion” of customers already coming to Bealls and other businesses.

“I feel good knowing that there’s going to be a benefit to more people coming in,” Bolter said. “I think it’s good in general for any businesses to have more people or more population around.”

Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.